Help Stop a Mine in a Protected Area!

An aggregate company from Thornhill wants to build a granite mine in newly established Mellon Lake Conservation Reserve. They are currently undertaking bulk sampling -- cutting and removing blocks of granite the size of a pickup truck -- under a permit issued March 23, 2000 by the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines (MNDM). They have also constructed a road over Crown land, for access to the site, but do not appear to have obtained the proper road building permits from the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR).

Mellon Lake deserves protection!

There are a number of rare or significant species that occur in the new protected area, including:

• Little Prickly Pear Cactus (Opuntia fragilis). The cactus that grow here are almost 1,000 km from the nearest other Canadian or U.S.site where these small cactus are found.
• Prairie Warbler
• Five-Lined skink, Ontario's only lizard. (recently designated as "vulnerable")
• Shining Sumac
• Bulbostyle (a sedge)
• Poke Milkweed
• Pink Polygala
• Bicknell's Panic Grass
• Northern Downy Violet
• Hoary Vervain
• Case's Ladies' tresses
• Swaying Rush

Company pushes to start full scale mining. The mining company is currently seeking approval under the Aggregate Resources Act (MNR), which would allow them to go into full production. With approval, they intend to remove "dimensional stone" in 20-tonne blocks that will be shipped to Europe for processing. Aggregate (gravel) will also be removed from the site.

An "Application and Site Plan for Category 11 Aggregate Permit under the Aggregate Resources Act" has been filed by the company.

Ministry of Natural Resources

IMMEDIATE ACTION NEEDED -

Here's what you can do to help:

Send a letter stating that:

• You object to the Application for Category 11 Aggregate Permit by Joseph Palu and Vito Corbelli for Part Lot 26, Concessions 4 and 5, Sheffield Township, Municipality of Stone Mills, Lennox and Addington County, Highway 41
• The permit should not be issued as this site has been part of the Lands for Life new protected area known as Mellon Lake (C-14).
• Mellon Lake (C-14) contains rare plant and animal species including:
  • Prairie Warbler, Five-Lined skink, Shining Sumac.
  • This area also contains the provincially rare Little Prickly Pear Cactus - almost 1,000 km from the nearest Canadian or U.S. colony.
    
• Proper permits do not appear to have been obtained for the building of the access road over Crown Land.
  
• The MNR should reject the aggregate permit application and request that the Ministry of Environment require a full Environmental Assessment of any mine development on the site as it is an area that is part of Lands for Life/Ontario's Living Legacy.
  

SEND YOUR LETTERS to:

1.

Chris Verschuren
Ministry of Natural Resources
51 Heakes Lane
Kingston, ON
K7M 9B1

Phone 613-531-5729
Fax 613-531-5730
Email: chris.verschuren@mnr.gov.on.ca

2.

Joseph Palu and Vito Corbelli
160 Applewood Cr. Unit 13
Concord, ON
L4K 4H2

Fax - 905-669-9549

Send copies to:

1.

Hon. John Snobelen
Ministry of Natural Resources
99 Wellesley Street W
Toronto, ON
M7A 1W3

Email: john_snobelen@ontla.ola.org

2.

Hon. Tim Hudack
Ministry of Northern Development & Mines
Whitney Block, 5th Flr Rm 5630
99 Wellesley St W
Toronto, ON
M7A 1W3

Email: tim.hudak@ndm.gov.on.ca

3.

Evan Ferrari
Partnership for Public Lands
401 Richmond St. West Suite 380
Toronto, ON
M5V 3A8

Email: ferrari@wildlandsleague.org

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Conservation groups and residents ask Minister of Natural Resources to stop proposed open-pit granite mine in new protected area.

An Application for Review was filed today with Ontario's Environmental Commissioner by the Federation of Ontario Naturalists, Wildlands League and World Wildlife Fund (WWF), No Quarry at Mellon Lake (NQ@ML) and Sierra Legal Defence Fund (SLDF). It asks the Minister of Natural Resources John Snobelen to prohibit a mine from going ahead in the Mellon Lake Conservation Reserve.

Located in eastern Ontario (northeast of Belleville on Hwy 41 south of Kaladar), Mellon Lake has long been known for its outstanding natural features and rare species. The 5,440 hectare area was first designated as an Area of Natural and Scientific Interest (ANSI) in 1983 and established as a new protected area in March 1999 as a part of the outcome of Lands for Life - a provincial land use planning process.

A Concord-based mining company, Senator Stone, staked claims in the site in March 1999, just before the protected-areas announcement by Minister Snobelen and Premier Harris.

Local opposition is high and local residents and cottagers are very concerned about the impact of the mine on the Mellon Lake environment. "The MNR has received over 250 letters from all over the province. Our volunteers are committed to not having this quarry go forward" says Lyn Sparling of NQ@ML (No Quarry @ Mellon Lake).

"Mines do not belong in parks" agrees Tim Gray, Executive Director of Wildlands League, (a chapter of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society). "We are asking the Minister to act quickly to stop this destructive activity before it causes any more harm to this important area or the species that inhabit it (see attached list)".

"When a park or protected area is established, people expect that it will be there forever", adds Monte Hummel, President of WWF. "We need to find a way to make sure that mine development does not happen again, and we look forward to working with the government and Mining industry to find a solution that protects our parks. In the meantime this one should be stopped in its tracks."

"We see this site as the tip of a very large iceberg" adds Gregor Beck of the Federation of Ontario Naturalists. "If this mine goes ahead, it will set a precedent that could allow for mines in many of our new parks."

"The Minister of Natural Resources has a great opportunity to use the appropriate legislation to stop this development" concludes Jerry DeMarco, staff lawyer at SLDF. "Developing a mine in this park is clearly contrary to the public interest and the Aggregate Resources Act, which gives the Minister the power to stop this proposal immediately."

Mellon Lake Chronology

1983. The area around Mellon Lake was identified as a provincially signifi cant Area of Natural and Scientific Interest (ANSI). This was done due largely to the presence of prickly pear cactus and other rare species in the area. This designation was formalized in the 1983 Tweed District Land Use Guidelines of the Ministry of Natural Resources.

October 1998. Lands for Life consolidated recommendations of the Boreal West, Boreal East and Great Lakes-St Lawrence Round Tables identified Mellon Lake as a new conservation reserve and described area C-14 as a special study area but with a 'decision deferred' status.

March 1999. Conservation Reserve candidate lands staked under a prospectors license (323 ha) issued under the Mining Act. Two other sections of the candidate Conservation Reserve are also staked by the same company.

March 31, 1999. Mellon Lake Area designated as a Conservation Reserve (5, 440 hectares).

Summer 1999.

• A 36-hectare site was chosen for sampling and a permit to remove a bulk sample was issued by Ministry of Northern Development and Mines (MNDM).
  
• A road was built across a portion of the Conservation Reserve, without a work permit under the Public Lands Act. The access road meets Highway 41 at a blind curve. The area has been posted with No Trespassing signs even though this is Crown (public) land.

March 23, 2000. Application for an aggregate permit submitted. The applicant intends to remove 'dimension stone' in 20 tonne blocks, which will be shipped to Italy for processing. The applicant also wants to remove stone for aggregate (gravel). The area is made up of granitic gneiss.

Spring 2000. Work at site appears to include spilling of significant quantities of oil.

July 7, 2000. Deadline for public comment on Aggregate Permit. Over 250 submissions submitted opposing mine proposal, including PPL, local citizens, municipal government and others.

July 2000. Large amount of local media coverage highlighting concerns of residents about proposed mine.

PENDING: MNR to decide whether to issue an Aggregate Permit.